Airfare - A Rant and then a Rave

I'm compelled to add my voice to the chatter about airfare I've been hearing everywhere lately. The high price of gas is affecting us all. I'm more immune than others seeing as I drive my car once or sometimes twice a week and my utilities are included in my rent, but we all know the increased price of fuel is increasing the price of pretty much everything. This past week American Airlines announced it will start charging $15 per checked bag (story) coming a couple of weeks after United (followed by a number of other carriers) announced it (they) will charge $25 for the second checked bag. I think this is a bad idea - for a number of reasons. The most basic of which goes a little like this - it seems to me that the increased price of fuel is a cost that applies to everyone on the flight, not just those people who check bags. Shouldn't it follow then that that extra cost of fuel should be passed along to everyone on the flight? Not to mention that cabin space is already at a premium so the extra people who carry-on instead of check based on these new fees is only going to cause more trouble there. Additionally, I read an article (of course I can't find it now) that talked about how many thousands of gallons of jet fuel can be saved per flight (per flight!) just by adding 2 or 3 minutes to flight times.

Now - I don't consider myself the most reasonable person in the world, more reasonable than some yes, but I can be really stubborn too. That said, I loathe the rise in gas prices almost as much as everyone else does, but I also understand that it's the way it is, at least for the moment. So - while I wouldn't be happy about it, deep down I would understand if the airlines raised prices. I don't know if I would fly less similar to all the people who are driving less, but somehow I would get it. It would suck, but I would get it. Plus - I would absolutely give 2-3 or even 10 extra minutes per flight to save fuel and money - seems better for the environment and the wallet.

Whew - enough ranting, onto raving. I have in the past month or so discovered a feature on www.kayak.com that I love. The website itself is sort of like Google for airfare. You put in your search and it looks at bunches of different sites and finds you the best price. It saves me some time when I'm searching around and gives me a good feel for prices across the board. They don't sell tickets themselves, it's just a tool to help you find the best fare. The best feature of the site (in my opinion) is the ability to track a specific itinerary. Say you were flying to visit family over Labor Day (which I am). You can tell Kayak the specific days you want to fly and they will send you a daily summary of what the best price is for those days and how much the price has gone up or down since yesterday and since the first day you started tracking. Plus (and this is my favorite part) they toss a helpful graph of fares from the last 7 days in the email so that you can glance very quickly to see what's been going on. On their website the graph is extended to the last 30 days and is a helpful tool to see what the trends are. I know that farecast.com does some if not all of these things however - they're graphing and trending (is that a word?) services are limited to large cities and they do not track the thriving metropolis that is Grand Rapids.

The best thing to happen to my travel plans though? My sister Joy. She's moving to Chicago, and since the next few trips I'm planning involve seeing family her move will allow me to fly into Chicago and save over flying into GR. Right now it's about half as much (seriously) to fly into Chicago instead of GR. Thanks Joy!

Lame

I didn't take a single picture this weekend. I really believe it's because I was just having a good time and focusing in the moment instead of focusing on pictures, but the truth is I feel really lame because I meant to take tons of pictures.

My weekend away was so fun. I saw Beth and Luke in Chicago, and even got a chance to look around in the Art Insitute. Then it was off to small-town Illinois to visit my sister and her family and meet her new baby, Dakota. There were a few moments that rubbed me the wrong way, as with any weekend spent with family, and I had a great time relaxing, playing games, sqeezing the baby, and being outside of my routine for a few days. There were some really strong storms, that actually were nice seeing as though the really rough weather stayed away from Shanna's town and we didn't have to go outside. Denver doesn't get storms like that.

Now I'm looking forward to some fun stuff here in Denver during the next couple of weeks and then heading back to the midwest at the end of June. I realized this morning that I'll be able to go to the Farmer's market while I'm there and that made me very happy on what is a gloomy gloomy morning here. Rainy and ick. I'm thankful this morning that it's a short week!

Update

I'm not terribly fierce all the time (I mean I could never take on Tyra) but my rude anonymous commenter is gone. And don't go trying to find the comment - I've taken it down.

I realize that I haven't posted an update in a while. I think a lot of the reason is that I just feel like there's not a lot going on in my life. I have a friend who assures me that I'm trying things and not finding what I'm looking for and her words encourage me to keep trying to find my own little corner of the world. In the next couple of months I'll be trying some new classes and some activities that will put me back in creative situations. I know that I feel most alive when I'm being creative, or when I'm spending time with creative people, and it's becoming more clear to me that part of me dies when I abandon creativity. I'm hopeful that I have the courage to keep trying new things.

In other news I'm excited to take a trip to the middle of nowhere to visit my sister's house and spend time with my family and meet my new little niece. I haven't been out of town in a good long while and so I'm hoping that a little break will be good - it almost always is. Plus I get to see Beth and Luke which will be great.

So - here's to a break and to jumping back into the creative world. I think it's going to be a great summer!

If you can't play nice, play elsewhere

Dear A--hole from the Indiana Department of Education using the computer at IP address 165.138.203.253, most likely in room 229 of the State House:

Your mean-spirited comments are unwelcome here. If they continue I will work harder to track down and report you to the proper authorities.

Drums Please

It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you Dakota Grace Grigoletti. This newest member of my family was born to my sister and her husband on Tuesday, May 13 and weighs in at 7 lbs, 8 oz and is 21 inches long. I'm going to meet her next weekend and I'm so freakin' excited I can barely stand it. I'm also excited to get out of Denver and spend a weekend with my entire family minus Joy. (sorry Joy) May I also say (because you are all thinking it) "step aside angelina jolie's children!" This girl has the lips :)